Proper care and maintenance of firearms (rifles, shotguns, pistols, etc., hereafter "guns") involves disassembly/reassembly of constituent components and periodic cleaning and oiling. Typical tools utilized for such activities include threaded tubular cleaning rod sections, cleaning rod handle, brush, jag, various screwdrivers and assorted small accessories, oils and solvents. The usual practice when carrying such implements into the field is to carry them loosely or in a separate container that comes as part of a kit. Such storage and transportability of the tools can be awkward, and thus the whole kit, or at least pieces thereof, are often left behind for lack of convenience, or lost.
Sling pouches, as shown in German Patentschrift 651,982 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,299,343, are known for the carrying of hunting licenses, ammunition rounds and the like. Such prior art pouches are unsuitable for carrying cleaning tools and are formed as integral parts of the sling itself. The '982 pouch, for example, is an elongated pouch connected at its ends within the sling to serve as part of the sling support strap portion, the sling being unusable without the pouch attached. In the '343 arrangement, the pouch is integral with a cuff band that fits over a rifle stock to serve as the means of attaching the sling to the rifle.